Shinobi of Hearts
by RagnellAlondite
Summary: His world fell to darkness. He fell into the Realm of Darkness only to find an even greater light. Now free of the dark realm he searches for a way back to save the one who had saved him. Now travelling the worlds in search for his missing friends, and a way back into the Realm of Darkness Naruto Uzumaki will bring forth a whole new Keyblade Legend.
1. Chapter 1

_AN* And here we are with a brand new story! This story is courtesy of a challenge request by Kfbanime87 who requested this story be made. Now enough out of me, enjoy the opening chapter and leave some reviews at the end so I know what you all think._

 **Darkness And Light**

Darkness had become Naruto's entire world. Well most of his world if he was honest with himself. For what had seemed like an eternity he had been trapped in the Realm Of Darkness, living among the shattered remnants of what was once his world, The Elemental Nations, and many others that he didn't recognize. The battle against Kaguya had taken a turn for the worse as he and Sasuke had been about ot seal her away again for all eternity, only for the three eyed rabbit goddess to use a last ditch effort to stop them. One that doomed the entire world. Darkness had sprung forth from the ground where her final blow had landed, and they had thought that it was just a simple attack to dodge, until it began spreading and consuming everything. There was no stopping it and despite their best efforts the darkness swallowed Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi along with Kaguya. Naruto wasn't sure what had happened, or how he had arrived where he had but he found himself standing on a scrap of the battlefield, floating in a dark void. The more troubling fact was that the remnants of the Biju were gone, and only Kurama remained, though he could barely talk anymore, saying he was far too weakened to try.

Time meant nothing in this realm and Naruto had no way of measuring it. He slept when he was tired but he never felt hunger, and he spent his time leaping and exploring the various scraps of lands. Eventually his wanderings had led him to the one thing that had been a break from the endless destroyed lands and pitch black void. Her name was Aqua.

"You ready Naruto?" Aqua asked him as she walked back into the view of the small shelter that they were currently using.

"You know it." Naruto nodded as he stood up and followed after the blue haired warrior. She was what was known as a Keyblade Master. They apparently traveled between worlds and helped stop the darkness from swallowing worlds by closing the keyholes in the worlds and protecting them from being destroyed. She was also his savior as his heart was especially strong and had lured black creatures known as Heartless to him. When Naruto had first seen them they had been small, only a few feet tall if they stood on their hind legs, completely black with little antenna on their heads and their only facial feature were golden circles that were their eyes. It had taken time but Aqua taught Naruto how to summon forth a Keyblade of his own, and then taught him how to fight, as well as teaching him the importance of what they did, protecting the worlds from Darkness and helping those who needed it.

It took time but Naruto learned more about Aqua as well. She had been named a Keyblade Master and then sent out to investigate a disturbance in the worlds. She hadn't been the only one to go though as her two friends had gone as well. This had led them across the worlds where one of her friends slowly succumbed to his own inner darkness and the other was faced with the copy that had been created from the darkness in his own heart by his former master in his quest to create the χ-blade, a weapon that all other keyblades were based off of. In the end Ventus had fallen into a coma and Terra had lost his body to Xehanort, which had led to Aqua trying to stop him and thus winding up trapped in the Realm Of Darkness.

* * *

"Ok Naruto. Let's have another go." Aqua smiled as seh summoned her own keyblade Master's Defender. The Master's defender had a smooth, cylindrical, grey shaft that tapered outward at both ends, with a boxy guard made up of two small light gray boxes and a copper rod. The base of the guard connected to the grip, and both sported several smaller indentations lining them. The grip itself was squared while the teeth were in the shape of an "E". The keychain was made of serveral simple chain links and its token was in the shape of what Aqua called Terra's Mark, a symbol that showed where you were trained. It was shaped like a heart with a sharp cross at its base and was very angular and squared.

"I'm ready." Naruto nodded as he held out his right hand and summoned his keyblade Kurama. The guard was more of an oval shape and having the appearance of tails as they wrapped around the hilt with the chain starting where the nine tails ended. The keychain itself was that of a smaller version of Kurama himself in his Biju form, the orange fur outlined in black, just like the guard and hilt of the weapon. The base of the shaft was the body of the kitsune extending forward and stopping midway up the weapon with what looked like a paw coming forward to complete the rest of the shaft, with the teeth of the key being shaped like claws and bent forward and inward to hook an enemy or slash through them. The entire length of the shaft was orange like the guard with the edges still being almost black while the teeth were an ivory color. The length was slightly longer then Master's Defender but it suited Naruto perfectly.

The two squared off from each other like they always did in their little ritual before Naruto struck first, moving forward in quick precise strikes that Aqua parried with ease as she made sure to not to get Master's Defender caught on the claws of Kurama. Naruto smirked as he started to use the rubble of their current campsite to his advantage as he leapt on a fallen pile of stone and leapt above her, striking quickly at her head, forcing the older keyblade wielder to block the strike and let Naruto hook Kurama's claws into Masters Defender. Pulling himself forward Naruto used his freehand to create his Rasengan and slammed the sphere into her stomach knocking Aqua back a short distance, and Naruto realized that he had screwed up by using a special skill first.

"Blizzaga!" She shouted as the large shards of ice went flying towards Naruto who leapt back to avoid a few of the flying icicles and was using Kurama to shatter the rest before they got too close as he raised his own hand.

"Thundara!" he shouted back and sent the bolts of lightning flying towards the master who batted the spell aside as she launched another spell at him.

"Thundaga!"

"Crap." Naruto cursed as he dropped into a roll to avoid the blast of lightning as he rushed forward, closing the distance in a flash.

"Won't be that easy." Aqua chided with a smirk as she parried his initial strike and spun around his thrust, taking his back where she put the flat of her hand against his lower back "Fire."

The fireball launched off and sent Naruto flying a short distance who grinned as he turned and faced her as he pointed Kurama towards her, having finally charged up enough to use his ultimate attack.

"Bijudama!" He shouted, sending a sphere of concentrated destruction flying towards Aqua who leapt back and unleashed her own special counter.

"Ghost Drive." She smirked as she started moving fast enough to leave after images of herself as she moved around the area and then disappeared out of the blast area and Naruto mentally cursed as he heard the next words out of her mouth "Blade Charge." As soon as those words left her mouth her keyblade began to glow and transformed into a much longer weapon that she swung and sent Naruto flying through the debris of his own missed attack. Skidding back Naruto managed to get his footing in time to see Aqua following up on the attack and forcing him to try and dodge it. And the dodge only ended up with the glowing blade smashing into his back and sending him bouncing onto the edge of their floating piece of land.

"Ok, I give." Naruto groaned as pushed himself away from the edge.

"You are improving." Aqua smiled as she sat down next to him "You'd easily give my friends a run for their money."

"Maybe." Naruto sighed as he looked up at the darkness.

"We're going to have to start moving soon." Aqua noted.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded "There haven't been too many Heartless lately. It's odd."

"I've noticed it as well."

"Think something's happening elsewhere?" Naruto asked.

"It is possible. There's no way of knowing how long it's been since you came here, let alone me." Aqua mused.

"Well we will find a way out eventually." Naruto replied with a smile "No doubt about it."

"Yes." Aqua smiled now as she gripped his hand before standing.

* * *

The two spent an unknown amount of time traveling the broken pieces of land and always keeping an eye out for a way to get out of the Realm Of Darkness. Throughout that time they always trained, with Aqua quizzing Naruto on various types of Heartless, the different types of magical abilities, the importance of the Hearts of Worlds and many other subjects. Naruto always did his best with these little quizzes, and after the amount of time that they had gone over the information it was sticking in his head.

However Naruto rubbed off on Aqua as much as her teachings did on him. His drive to protect people and do the right thing were uncompromising as was his belief that there was a way for true peace to be achieved. This was something he was dead set on, and now that he learned about the many different worlds out there he felt the draw to do even greater good. To help end strife and conflict in all worlds, to help spread understanding and knowledge through them. Aqua had tried to caution him on this, about meddling in the affairs of other worlds but she came around to Naruto's way of thinking, that it was possible to help these worlds as a neutral third party while not meddling or harming the worlds as a whole.

"So you expect me to believe that you were able to fly once?" Aqua asked one day as they sat in their makeshift camp. They had been traveling for awhile and once they had taken care of the Shadows that had appeared around their campsite they were now sitting next to each other looking out over a small cluster of broken lands.

"You better believe it!" Naruto laughed "I was just as shocked when I learned I could do it."

"So why don't you now?" Aqua asked in a teasing tone.

"I can't... I don't know why but I can't trigger it." Naruto sighed.

"Trigger what? Is this like when you claimed you can make copies of yourself?" Aqua asked with a frown.

"Yeah..." Naruto sighed "I don't get it. I should be able to do these things. I know that I have done them. But every time I try to..."

"Like a memory just out of reach." Aqua nodded.

"Best way I heard it put." Naruto agreed "I just wish I knew why."

"When the time is right you will." Aqua promised as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Naruto didn't say anything but just took comfort in her presence, the one reason he hadn't gone insane in the Realm of Darkness. The pair sat for a time until a sight caught their eyes that they had never seen. Light. A shard of light was visible on the horizon as it looked like a giant door opening.

"Aqua!" Naruto began.

"I see it." Aqua replied as she leapt up, with Naruto hot on her heels as they leapt across the gap to another floating chunk of debris "It's a way out!"

"Well let's go!" Naruto laughed as they continued leaping until they landed on a dark stretch of plain, and could see the giant door. Rushing towards it Naruto could see glimpses of shadowy figures rising up in between the two keyblade wielders and their door out, and Naruto recognized them for Darksides. The largest of the Heartless that Naruto had encountered and it usually took Aqua and Naruto working together to to take one of them down, and now there were dozens of them slowly starting to stand.

"I think they want out as well!" Naruto shouted as he summoned Kurama.

"Well we won't let them." Aqua replied as she summoned out Master's Defender and the pair began cutting down the giant Heartless as they cut their way closer and closer towards the door. From the brief glimpses Naruto could make he saw that the door was slowly closing, being pushed from the outside and being pulled by a youth from the inside.

"Aqua!" Naruto shouted as he saw that the door was going to shut soon. Aqua seemed to reach a conclusion as she grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled him close to her.

"Naruto. We aren't going to make it."

"We have to try."

"I said we." she said as she kissed him, stunning the blond at the action as she pulled back "Aeroga!" Casting the flight spell on Naruto she swung her keyblade as hard as she could and sent him rocketing towards the slowly closing door "I love you!"

"NO! AQUA!" Naruto roared as he flew past the last few Darksides, and out of the door. Landing Naruto lunged towards the door trying to get back in and get Aqua back out but the three people pushing on the door from the outside closed it as the brown haired boy held up a keyblade and locked the door from this side. The door disappeared just as Naruto reached it, knocking the duck and bipedal dog to the side as he collapsed there.

"NO!" Naruto shouted as he slammed a fist on the ground that was slowly changing.

"Gwarsh. Who's he?" the dog asked in shock.

"I don't know Goofy. Was he with the King?" the duck asked with a frown as he looked at Naruto. The blond was motionless for a few moments, his heart in utter turmoil and wanting to lash out at those that closed the door.

" _That's not what Aqua would want." Kurama reminded him._

" _The open door was a threat." Naruto agreed quietly "She did that to save me. We can't leave her behind."_

" _The door is gone."_

" _Then we find another way." Naruto stated "I'm not leaving her trapped in the darkness."_

Pulled from his mental discussion with the Biju Naruto realized that he was now standing in a field along with the three that had closed the door.

"So who're you?" The boy asked.

"Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto said as he summoned forth his keyblade "Keyblade wielder and student to Master Aqua."


	2. Chapter 2

_AN* Hello to all of you. I am happy that all of you seemed to enjoy the first chapter, and for those of you that messaged me I did go back and realized that I made the mistake with Aqua's keyblade. I have gone back and fixed this. Now please enjoy the latest chapter, and let me know what you think._

 **Strength**

The three stared at Naruto in shock for a few moments before the blond glanced around the area.

"So where are we?" he asked.

"Um... We don't know." the boy chuckled "So you're a Keyblade master?"

"Heh, I wield a Keyblade but I am no master." Naruto chuckled now "And what is your name?"

"I'm Sora." The boy grinned.

"Donald." The duck nodded.

"Goofy." the bipedal dog chuckled.

"It's a pleasure. Good work closing that door, though it's a shame it couldn't have stayed open longer."

"You were trapped in the Realm of Darkness? Were you with the king?" Goofy asked.

"No... The only person I was with was my master, Aqua. She was the one who found me in the shattered remains of my world."

"Oh. You're probably going to want to go back to your world huh?" Sora noted.

"Unfortunately that is impossible." Naruto sighed "My world wasn't lost to the Heartless but literally torn asunder by the darkness. An enemy of mine chose to destroy the world then be sealed away again."

"Oh. So..."

"Yes. I don't know if I am the only survivor or not but I do know that as one of the Keyblade's chosen I have a duty to the worlds." Naruto replied "So who taught you Sora?"

"No one really." Sora admitted.

"No one? You were never taught to summon the Keyblade?"

"No. I just did it when my world was swallowed by the darkness." Sora admitted.

"Odd..." Naruto hummed "It doesn't happen often but Aqua did say that a strong enough heart can summon the Keyblade."

"Well it looks like we have a common goal as least." Sora smiled "Finding a way into the Realm of Darkness. The King and my friend Riku are trapped there too."

"Then we do have a common goal." Naruto nodded "Though I hope you don't mind my asking you some questions about what has transpired out here."

"I can fill you in." a voice said as a cricket leapt up on to Sora's shoulder "I'm Jiminy, Jiminy Cricket."

"That would be appreciated. Thank you." Naruto nodded as he took a step closer and the cricket jumped onto his shoulder, pulling out a surprising large journal as he began telling him what had happened with Sora and his journey. The group was soon walking along the country road, wide open grassland all around them as they walked for hours until they finally stopped for the night, Naruto managing to get a fire going as they sat around it for an hour or so. Sighing Naruto stood up and motioned for Sora to do the same.

"What's up Naruto?" Sora asked as he stood up.

"I'm feeling restless, and after hearing about your adventure I want to test you myself."

"Test me?" Sora blinked.

"Through the tried and true way of combat." Naruto nodded "Aqua and I did this every time we stopped to make camp, and it's a good way of testing your skills and a good way of learning who a person really is."

Stopping a short distance from the fire he summoned Kurama and nodded for Sora to follow suit. Holding out his hand the key shaped weapon appeared in Sora's hand. It had the appearance of a short sword, wrapped in golden filigree that reminded Naruto of fish bones. The teeth were golden in color and looked very similar to the pendant that Sora was wearing while connected to a golden thread was a gilded heart, with another heart just above the guard and one more near the teeth.

"Ready?" Sora asked.

"I am." Naruto nodded as Sora charged at him, holding his Keyblade in a two handed grip as he swung the weapon at Naruto who deflected the attack and stepped to the side where he swung Kurama in a backhand blow that knocked Sora back a step but not stopping the younger Keyblade Wielder as he charged in again. Naruto blocked each strike, remembering Aqua's lessons on fighting with the Keyblade and found Sora's tempo. Stepping back half a step Naruto brought Kurama up and used the claws to trap Sora's Keyblade in place, high above his head where Naruto used his height to his advantage and slammed an open palm strike into Sora's chest to send him flying backwards, knocking the Keyblade from his hands and letting Naruto catch the weapon as it fell.

"Hey!" Sora shouted in shock as he saw Naruto holding his weapon.

"What? You didn't know that you could do that?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow "You are one of the Keyblade's chosen. You can wield any Keyblade if you can disarm your opponent. This is especially useful when fighting against another Keyblade wielder or if working with another one against a particularly powerful enemy." With that Naruto tossed Sora's Keyblade back to him "Again."

Nodding Sora gripped his weapon and tried to go in for a quick strike but Naruto had Kurama in it's path before he could blink and this time Naruto slammed a fist down on top of Sora's head, getting the boy to shout in protest.

"That hurt!" Sora shouted.

"Because you left yourself open." Naruto replied "Your enemies aren't going to coddle you, and after what you have accomplished you can expect them to stop underestimating you as well."

"Underestimating me?" Sora blinked in shock.

"I read the journal. I know you have accomplished some amazing feats but your greatest advantage throughout your entire journey was the fact that your enemies underestimated what you could do. They left themselves open for you to surprise and surpass but now that you have proven yourself they will not do so for much longer. They will come at you with everything that they can, and it could very well be your death." Naruto explained "This isn't to diminish your accomplishments, or to bring you down, this is to help you learn and grow."

"So they were going easy on me?" Sora asked now, looking a little hurt.

"No. They just didn't bring their full might to bare against you right away and because of that you were able to overcome them a little at a time, at your own pace. You still defeated them and have still done great things, but enemies in the future might not give you that luxury and so that's why you need to be aware."

"Aware of what?"

"Everything." Naruto chuckled as he took his fighting stance again "We'll go one more time. I'm starting to get a good read on who you really are Sora."

"We'll see about that." Sora grinned now as he swung his weapon at Naruto again and as Naruto blocked the strike he saw the brief flicker of magic and grinned as he disengaged and moved back.

"Firaga!" Sora shouted, sending the massive fireball towards Naruto who only grinned as he cast his own spell.

"Reflect!"

As the fireball hit where Naruto was there was a flash of green light as it was then sent hurtling towards Sora who yelped in shock as he leapt away from the blast, rolling to his feet he looked at Naruto in shock but soon charged in again, hoping to find a way of overcoming the older blond.

"Slow." Naruto said as Sora got closer and the boy slowed down to a crawl as Naruto walked around to his side, knocking his arm up so his strike would hit the ground first as he stepped behind him as he tried to turn and Naruto's foot shot out into the back of his leg sending him flying now as the spell wore off and the brown haired boy bounced off of the ground a few times, dazed and trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Sora!" Donald and Goofy shouted when the young teen just lay there.

"He'll be fine." Naruto chuckled as he walked over, sending Kurama away as he helped Sora stand.

"What were those spells?" Sora asked as they went back to the campfire.

"Reflect was one of Aqua's go to spells in a fight. It reflects all magic back at your enemy. The draw back is that healing spells bounce right off as well." Naruto explained "But when fighting against an enemy that relies heavily on magic this is the ultimate defense. Slow on the other hand is one that slows down the target, which allowed me to catch you unawares like that."

"Man, those are so cool." Sora grinned "How come you don't know them Donald."

"I've never even heard of them before now." Donald replied.

"Not surprising. They aren't spells that you would see used very often. Slow is only useful in slowing enemies down, not damaging them. And Reflect is purely support based so not a lot of mages bother to learn it since it would hamper any healing that they would like to do." Naruto explained "But for Keyblade wielders, those spells are incredibly useful."

"No kidding. I never stood a chance against you." Sora chuckled.

"You tried your best though." Goofy smiled.

"He did." Naruto agreed "There is a massive experience gap between us. I've been trained to fight since I was eight. So even before I became a Keyblade wielder I was already a fighter. Add in being taught by an actual Keyblade Master and that only adds onto the gap."

"When you were eight? That's young." Goofy noted.

"To some." Naruto admitted as he looked over at Sora "Okay, time to review."

"Review? Review what?" Sora blinked.

"How you did knucklehead." Naruto sighed "You seem to favor power in your strikes and using a two handed style. Nothing wrong with that but it makes it easy to counter for someone like me who uses one handed styles combined with unarmed strikes. You're going to need to work on your perception of the battlefield, noting everything that you can in a single instant or you could wind up in a bad spot against more agile enemies. You didn't use much magic but casting a third tier spell is a good sign of how strong you are in that front. Overall the only thing you need is experience and learning to think outside of the box in a fight."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"You either rely on your spells or your Keyblade. But you have other options in a fight as well, never be afraid to use your fists and feet in a fight, that might let you catch an enemy off guard and give you an advantage." Naruto remarked.

"That doesn't really seem fair." Sora noted.

"Fair is for sport. What we do, this is about protecting others. If you can save a world by kicking someone in the shins to give yourself an edge you better take that kick." Naruto chuckled as he looked up at the stars "It's getting late. We should rest now while we can. We'll do this again every night, next time Donald and Goofy can join in."

"Ok. Goodnight Naruto." Sora nodded as Naruto laid back and closed his eyes.

* * *

The next morning had them continuing on the path, walking along and enjoying the warm weather when they saw a dog on the path ahead of them, holding an envelope in it's mouth with a symbol that looked like three circles on it.

"He's got a letter from the king!" Donald exclaimed.

"Well let's catch him then." Naruto chuckled as they ran off after the dog who was managing to stay ahead of them the entire time. The small group continued on for a time, finally stopping for the night at a crossroads where Naruto told them that they would delay another spar for a bit as he scouted around the area, with something bothering Kurama.

" _I sense something." the kitsune remarked._

" _What is it?" Naruto asked with a frown._

" _It... It feels like one of the other Biju." Kurama growled "But... it's like they're trapped or something."_

" _But if one of them is nearby then we find them and help them." Naruto replied with a grin "This is great news."_

" _Maybe. But who trapped them, and why?" Kurama asked, getting only silence from Naruto._

When Naruto returned to the camp he blinked in surprise as the crossroads were now gone and in it's place was a straight path. Frowning Naruto saw that Sora and the others were standing a short distance down the path and jogged over to them, coming into sight of a large castle that only increased his own uneasiness.

"That looks rather menacing." Naruto noted.

"Yeah. But some guy said that it might help us find Riku and the king." Sora said.

"Some guy?" Naruto raised an eyebrow here "That doesn't strike you as odd?"

"Well yeah, but it's a lead. Sora grinned.

"What do you guys think?" Naruto asked as he looked at Donald and Goofy.

"If it will help us find the king I'm all for it." Donald said as Goofy nodded in agreement.

"Ok then. But let it be noted that I have a bad feeling about all of this." Naruto remarked as they walked towards the castle.

Once they walked inside Naruto's sense of unease doubled as he glanced around and Kurama appeared in his hand the Keyblade shaking.

"You ok?" Sora asked.

"It's Kurama. Something's got him irritated." Naruto muttered as he looked up to see a man standing in front of them. He was dressed in a long black coat with the hood pulled back revealing his long spikey red hair.

"Huh? There's one more of you now." the man remarked he tossed the card towards Sora, letting the younger teen catch it "If you want to traverse this castle you're going to need to use that to climb higher." As he tossed the card Naruto saw the glint of something gold and his eyes zeroed in on a charm on his wrist, golden in color in the shape of the Yonbi Son Goku.

"Hold it." Naruto said as he stepped forward and glared at him "That charm. Where did you get it?"

"This thing?" Axel blinked as he lifted the arm and showed it to him "Why do you care?"

" _Son Goku!" Kurama shouted._

" _Kurama?"_

"Give him back." Naruto growled now.

"What now?" the man blinked.

"Son Goku. Give him back." Naruto repeated "Or I will take him."

"That sounds like a threat." the man remarked as he glared at Naruto. Leaping across the distance Naruto swung the weapon at the man with blinding speed, forcing him to leap back to avoid the assault and realized that he probably should have gone another direction.

"Blizzara!" Naruto shouted, sending the shards of ice flying at the man who summoned two chakram in swirls of fire that blocked the ice as he landed and stared at Naruto now.

"You are going to be pain aren't you." he sighed as he clicked his fingers and a portal of darkness appeared behind him "But I don't have time to play with you." Stepping into the portal the started to disappear as Naruto ran towards it.

"Naruto!" Sora shouted.

"I'm not letting him get away!" Naruto roared as he leapt into the remnants of the portal. Floating through the darkness he landed on a similar floor to the one he had been on, now with stairs going up and down.

" _He's still here." Kurama growled._

" _And we'll find him." Naruto promised "No matter what we will save our friend."_


	3. Chapter 3

**All That Awaits**

"Son of a bitch!" Axel cursed as he emerged on the top floor of Castle Oblivion.

"Axel, what happened?" Marluxia frowned as he looked at the red haired Nobody.

"We have another Keyblade wielder in the castle, and he isn't playing nice." Axel replied.

"The scent that I detected when Sora arrived. He is older, and much more powerful then Sora is. His scent though..." Zexion trailed off.

"What about it?" Larxene sneered.

"It is different. Twisted in darkness but not corrupted by it. As though he has walked through the darkness for great lengths of time. But his heart is pure light, of that I can be certain."

"Another one of the Keyblades chosen..." Lexeaus trailed off.

"He arrived with Sora right?" Larxene started "So he must have some kind of tie with him, which means"

"That his memories can be tampered with." Marluxia nodded "A second Keyblade wielder could be very useful."

Turning towards a door they entered the room where a young girl sat drawing a new picture.

"Namine, we have a new task for you." Marluxia said "There is another Keyblade wielder here in the castle. I want you to alter his memories."

"I see..." Namine trailed off as she started to draw. It was crude at first, a simple drawing of what looked like a blond haired man with an orange Keyblade but grew in detail to the point where Axel confirmed that it was indeed the person that he had fought. As she started on her next drawing to change his most recent memories the paper flashed in a red light before bursting into flames.

"Whoa! What just happened?" Axel asked in shock.

"How odd." Vexen noted with a curious frown.

"His mind and heart. They are protected." Namine stated quietly.

"Protected?" Marluxia frowned now.

Nodding Namine started drawing again and revealed a large and angry looking fox with nine tails.

"This guards him."

"A fox. You expect us to believe that a fox stopped you?!" Larxene shouted.

"That is no ordinary fox." Zexion noted as he looked at the drawing.

"Really? I would have had no idea." Axel snorted.

"If I were to make a hypothesis on the matter I would say that this creature is of similar origins to the charm that Xemnas has given to you Axel. It is likely a power source that he has used to ward himself from any tampering." Vexen mused.

"Makes sense. He recognized the charm. Called it Son something." Axel nodded.

"So he is in possession of one of these charms as well." Marluxia nodded "This makes him a threat."

"Then we kill him." Larxene stated "He's not with Sora right?"

"No. I dropped him on the fifth floor when I realized he was too close for me to come directly here." Axel replied.

"Then this works to our advantage. He does not have the cards to come directly here to the top of the castle and neither can he use the Corridors of Darkness. He will be forced to take the side passageways that litter this castle and it will slow him down greatly." Vexen nodded.

"And gives us time to learn more about him. We can still view his memories?" Marluxia asked.

"Yes... I can view them but it would appear that the moment I try to alter anything this force will stop me." Namine answered.

"Then we study this new enemy before we kill him." Lexeaus nodded "Who shall do the deed?"

"Not me." Axel chuckled "He's after the charm and I say we keep it far enough away from him so he doesn't get any bright ideas, or cause some kind of weird chain reaction between them."

"That would be a wise precaution." Zexion agreed.

"I'll take care of him." Larxene replied "Should be able to break the boredom for a little while."

* * *

On the fifth floor Naruto managed to find a side door after rapping on the walls once he realized he couldn't get the doors open to either go up or down the stairs. Stepping into the hallway Naruto walked through the passage spotting the odd door here or there that he would peek in and see only empty rooms before continuing his walking. The passage curved inward, taking him around in a slow circle around what he assumed was the entire perimeter of the castle. As he reached the end he stopped when he heard Kurama growling.

" _Everything ok?" Naruto asked._

" _Someone just tried to assert their will over us." the Biju growled._

" _Say what now?" Naruto blinked._

" _It was a presence that I could feel over us. They were trying to alter our perception of reality. Not exactly sure what they were trying to do but I managed to stop it." Kurama explained._

" _That is concerning." Naruto noted "This means that the same thing could be happening to Sora and the others right now."_

" _Maybe, but if it was there is no way that we could be able to help them. It might be best if we find our way up to where this person or thing is and stop it that way." Kurama offered._

Nodding his agreement Naruto made his way up the flight of stairs at the end of the passage and pushed open the door to an identical floor as he moved around the opposite wall where he started his rhythmic tapping again until he found the next door. The pace was slow and likely wound up taking more time then if he had stuck with Sora since it appeared that whomever was running this castle wanted Sora to climb higher, and likely get further entangled in whatever trap lay within.

* * *

Opening the door Naruto stepped onto the 13th floor Naruto blinked as he saw Sora, Donald and Goofy along with a girl in a white dress and Riku laying on the ground. Across from them was a woman with blond hair and a sadistic grin on her face and Naruto had a bad feeling as he took in the scene.

"Sora, take your friend and go." Naruto said as he walked into the room, Kurama appearing in his hand.

"Naruto!" Sora blinked in shock "Are you"

"Unaffected." Naruto replied "Get going."

Nodding Sora and Goofy picked up Riku and ran past. The woman grinned wider as she made to strike them and found Naruto in her path his keyblade whistling past and forcing her back a step with a short laugh.

"You're faster then I thought you would be. Guess Aqua trained you well."

"How do you know Aqua?" Naruto frowned as he kept his fighting stance.

"I don't. But I had plenty of time to look through your memories. So sad." she sneered "The little orphan that only ever wanted to be loved."

Naruto rolled his eyes now "Not telling me anything I haven't told myself. I've faced my own darkness and won."

"Oh yes, with an autograph!" she laughed now "How pathetic can you be?!"

"And yet here I stand." Naruto smirked now "So how about I make you a deal. I have no personal strife with you. I'm willing to let you leave right now, get out of this castle. All I want to know is where the man with long red hair is."

"Ah how gracious. But I'm afraid that I won't be doing that. I'm going to be leaving your corpse here, then taking that fox charm you have somewhere on you and using it to kill Sora and that little witch."

Rushing forward she swung an arm at him and Naruto saw the glint of something yellow in between her fingers and used Kurama to block in time to see the knives she held. Using his free hand he caught her other arm before she could bring the knives in her other hand towards him and blinked when they both kicked at the same time, knocking each other back a step where she laughed at his actions.

"Oh you are much more entertaining then Sora."

"You're not bad either. Too many people forget to use their entire bodies in a fight." Naruto admitted "I never caught your name."

"Heh. It's Larxene, Number 12 of Organization XIII." she replied "And I'm looking forward to breaking you little orphan."

"Go ahead and try. Stronger enemies then you have tried." Naruto countered as they clashed again, his keyblade moving in swift arcs that kept her knives at bay while her speed kept him on his toes as he was almost cut a few different times when she managed to get one of her blades past his guard. Twisting past her he blinked when he saw the lightning heading for him and managed to send a Fira spell into it's path to block the attack while using the smoke to mask his movements. Larxene had the same idea as they both struck at the same time, both of their strikes just missing the other. Larxene was faster on the rebound as she twisted once her feet hit the ground and launched herself towards Naruto again who grinned as he held open his free hand and let the Rasengan form and smashed into her oncoming form only to blink when it disappeared and revealed itself to be a clone, just as four Larxene's emerged from the remains of the smoke. Leaping into the air to avoid the rush Naruto grinned as he pointed Kurama downwards.

"Dodge this. Bijudama!" he shouted as he sent the sphere of concentrated destruction down into the four combatants and sent the real Larxene flying backwards where she landed in a crouch before standing.

"Not bad. You are definitely more of a threat then Sora is. It's almost a shame you have to die. You would make a good comrade if we could make you into a Nobody." Larxene chuckled.

"Nobody? What the hell is a Nobody?" Naruto blinked having never even heard of that term before.

"Aw, did your precious master Aqua not teach you about them, or did she never learn it herself?" Larxene giggled "It's simple. While a Heartless is formed from a person's heart, it leaves behind the Body and the Soul. These then become a Nobody as they are banished from the World of Light and shunned by both worlds. The stronger the will of those who become Nobodies, the more human we appear and the lesser Nobodies obey our commands."

Naruto blinked at this new information and a part of him felt pity for these Nobodies. They didn't ask to be born and if they didn't have Hearts then it meant that they would likely have no moral compass or one that is so badly screwed up that it wouldn't matter either way since the Heart provided emotion and emotion helps determine right from wrong. Larxene must have seen the look on his face as her small grin turned into an angry scowl.

"Don't you pity us. Don't you dare!" Larxene shouted.

"How can I not?" Naruto asked "You didn't ask to be what you are, and you are punished for it."

"What do you know?! No wonder Aqua got rid of you!" she laughed now, a cruel sound "Oh I'm sure she made it seem like it was the only way"

"Shut up." Naruto growled.

"Sending you out that door, but I bet she was glad to be rid of you at last." Larxene continued on "All so she could sulk in the darkness forever."

"Shut up!" Naruto said more firmly his anger rising as she mocked Aqua.

" "Oh woe is me. I'm trapped her in the darkness and I don't want to be here, but I'd rather be alone then be stuck with this idiot forever!"!" Larxene laughed "What a stupid bitch! She could have been free herself if she had just had you throw her, but no, she was too much of an idiot to"

Before she could finish Naruto had crossed the distance in a flash, his anger overwhelming him as his normally blue eyes had turned into red slits. Larxene moved to slash at him but found only empty air as he had stopped short and as she finished her swing he let Kurama disappear as he took a step forward and let it reappear, now with the claws behind Larxene extended arm. With a wordless howl Naruto pulled Kurama back towards him and a spray of blood appeared as Larxene's severed arm fell to the ground as she screamed in agony.

"Firaga." Naruto hissed as he sent the powerful fire spell on the arm and incinerated it before she could move towards it.

"My arm!" Larxene screamed as her free hand held the wound and she looked at Naruto with absolute terror "You cut off my arm!"

"I can take any insult you want to throw at me." Naruto said quietly his anger turning from a burning inferno into a deadly focused laser "I've told myself all of those terrible things at one point or another. But speaking that way about Aqua, the best person I have ever met, the woman I love... You have stepped beyond what I can tolerate. Beyond what We can tolerate."

"We?" she blinked.

"Kurama and I are of the same opinion here." Naruto stated as he struck slamming the back of the keyblade into her knees to knock her to the ground where he pointed the tip of his weapon at her face "You don't deserve to live. You don't deserve to be shown mercy. You only deserve to die here, alone in this empty castle."

"No... No, you're a good guy! A hero! You don't kill!" she shouted as she tried to move away from him.

"Normally, you'd be right." Naruto agreed "But right now, I just can't find it in myself to care."

"NO!"

"Bijudama." Naruto said as he fired the blast point blank and let it tear through the Nobody. Stepping back Naruto watched as the rest of her body began to disappear into darkness. Taking a breath to calm himself he turned to leave and saw the red haired man standing there with a look of contemplation on his face.

"That was brutal." He admitted "I came to make sure that she died but man you went all out there to make sure of it."

"So you betrayed them." Naruto frowned.

"It's all relative in this case. I was ordered by the boss to remove all traitors, and she and Marluxia planned to try and overthrow the boss." he shrugged "So you did part of my job for me there."

"Then I'm sure you won't mind if I take Son Goku back." Naruto stated.

"Actually I kinda do." the man chuckled "Thing is the boss gave me this and told me it would give me quite the power-up. And boy has it. Had to restrain myself from almost accidentally killing Sora. But against you, I wouldn't need to."

"I'm no push over." Naruto countered.

"If you were fresh I'd agree. But you are pretty beat up, and I don't think you could last five minutes against me."

"And who are you?"

"Name's Axel, got it memorized?" Axel grinned.

"I do now." Naruto replied "And as much as I hate to admit it, you are right. I'm in no shape to go toe to toe with you, or however many other Organization XIII members are here."

"Smart choice." Axel noted.

"But I'm not through with any of you yet. You said your boss gave you Son Goku, that means that the others are likely trapped in your Organization as well. I won't rest until I rescue them." Naruto said "I will hunt you all down if that is what it takes to rescue them."

"Huh. Getting awfully attached to some jewelry there." Axel noted.

"You don't even know what you are wearing on your wrist." Naruto said while shaking his head "You don't even know who that is."

Axel blinked at this as he looked at the golden monkey that was dangling from his wrist and shrugged as he looked at Naruto.

"Well that is some food for thought. And as much as I would love to continue talking with you, I have some more loose ends to tie up."

"We'll meet again Axel. I can promise you that." Naruto warned.

"I know it. Next time, I won't be so nice." Axel grinned as he opened the doorway of darkness and stepped inside of it before it closed and left Naruto standing in the battle scarred landing. As Naruto was about to climb up the stair to where Sora had gone he felt the entire castle shake and frowned now, realizing that Sora had likely gotten into a battle of his own with a different Nobody and decided that he had better check on him to make sure that he and the others were okay, along with finding out who that girl with Sora was.

It took some time to make his way through the top floor and Naruto eventually arrived in a room where he saw Sora, Donald and Goofy inside crystal pods and the girl standing in front of them.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I... I am going to restore their memories." she said quietly.

"So you were the one that tried to"

"Alter your memories. Yes." she nodded.

"I'm guessing that you didn't have much of a choice in the matter." Naruto noted.

"I didn't. But it wasn't right of me to..."

"I seem to be asking this question a lot today, considering I'm the only one who likely hasn't had their memory screwed with, but who are you?"

"My name is Namine. I'm a Nobody."

"If you don't mind my asking, whose?"

"Kairi's."

"From Hollow Bastion." Naruto nodded in understanding "So you're going to fix the damage then."

"Yes. But it will take some time, and there is something else I need to do. Would you stay with them?"

"Of course." Naruto nodded as he gently put a hand on her shoulder "Thank you. For helping Sora."

Namine smiled sadly as she left and Naruto sat in front of the pods as he sighed and started talking to Sora, though it was more to himself.

"I warned you kid. You got over confident and they got the jump on you. Your mind is all screwed up now and if Namine wasn't a good person then you would likely be stuck that way and it would be because you thought it was a good idea to come here. You're going to have to start shaping up if you want to keep defending the worlds kid. We both will I guess..." Naruto sighed "Neither of us are ready for this kind of thing, but we are all that the worlds have. We need to be better then we were, and we can't take our time with it either. This organization... this attack on you was well planned and these Nobodies could pose a real problem for us later, not to mention if they have all been augmented with the Biju. We've got our work cut out for us, and it's not going to be easy. But then again, we're the Keyblade's chosen. Easy isn't in the job description, and given how big the task is I don't think it should be."

Naruto was quiet for a while as he waited and Namine eventually returned and was soon followed by Riku. The two spoke for a moment and Naruto only listened quietly as Riku decided to face his darkness himself and not have it sealed away. He glanced over at Naruto before he left but the blond made a shooing motion and the silver haired youth walked out of the room. After he left another person walked in, taller and older then Riku, with yellow eyes and dark skin with his face partially covered in red bandages.

"So this is the other Keyblade wielder." the man noted "My name is DiZ."

"Naruto." the blond nodded "I take it you aren't with the organization."

"No I am not." he said, a bit of anger leaking into his voice "At the moment I am here to aid Sora and to ensure that his memories are restored."

"That right?" Naruto remarked as he stood up and took a hard look at DiZ "I doubt you are doing this out of the kindness of your heart."

"You are rather distrusting." DiZ noted with some satisfaction.

"I've had a long day." Naruto replied "And it tends to make me a little edgy around someone that is clearly up to something."

"Let's just say that it is in my best interest if Sora is awakened." DiZ answered "And right now it would be best if we moved Sora elsewhere. This castle is still a base of Organization XIII and it would not be wise to keep Sora here in this condition."

"You have somewhere in mind?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. My laboratory in Twilight Town."

"Fine. I'm going to take a look around this place one more time before I go. There might be more information that I can use to track down the Organization later." Naruto said as he walked out of the room "I'll join up with all of you before you leave."

"Be safe." Namine said as she and DiZ got started.

* * *

Checking the rooms on the top floor proved much more useful then the lower floors had been as Naruto found several rooms that had clearly been rooms meant for the members that were there, likely on the off chance that the process of altering Sora's memories took longer then expected. Most of those rooms were unused but a few had been and Naruto managed to find a few small bits of information about the Organization and realizing that with the exception of Axel those that had been sent there had been expendable to someone's eyes and they were likely the weaker links in the chain. Moving into another room Naruto found that it was a storage room and the blond rummaged through a few of the boxes before stopping when he found something that was truly useful and practically priceless. It was an orange piece of armor that would go on his left arm, and on the upper portion of it was a circle that Naruto recognized from Aqua's own.

"No way..." he muttered as he put it on, adjusting the fit as he did and once it was strapped into place he brought his hand up to the circle and in a flash of white light Naruto was now donned in a full set of orange armor. The boots and gauntlets were a darker orange with tinges of black in the joints of the fingers and around the edges of the boots. The rest of the armor on his arms and legs went from the darker orange to a more vibrant shade of orange that his chestplate matched, with the symbol Terra's Mark in the center of the chest. On Naruto's head now was a helmet of a burnt orange color with a black visor protecting his eyes and two horn like projections coming off of the back of his head pointing backward and slightly upward, giving the helmet a streamlined appearance.

"This is too cool." Naruto laughed as he looked at his armored limbs.

" _It is interesting. Why was it here though?" Kurama asked._

" _The Organization might have found it. Or it was here when they set up shop here. Who knows." Naruto shrugged it off "Wonder if I can do that Keyblade trick that Aqua talked about. The one where you can transform your Keyblade into a glider to traverse the worlds."_

" _You can try it out later. You should meet up with DiZ and Namine now." Kurama reminded Naruto._

Chuckling Naruto jogged out of the room and almost ran over the smaller figure that was coming to find him. He was a mouse in appearance and he blinked as he saw the armored youth.

"So you found something interesting huh?" he noted with a smile.

"Yeah. This is so cool." Naruto chuckled as he put a hand over the left pauldron and let the armor disappear "Names Naruto Uzumaki."

"Mickey Mouse." Mickey smiled as Naruto leaned down to shake his hand "A Keyblade master myself."

"You must be the king that Donald and Goofy were talking about then." Naruto nodded as they started walking.

"Yeah."

"You were in the World of Darkness! Is Aqua with you?!" Naruto asked as he realized that Mickey and Riku had both been trapped, and if they had managed to get out that meant that Aqua might be with them.

"You know Aqua?!" Mickey exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, she trained me. Is she..."

"No... I'm sorry. I didn't see her. There were so many Darksides that Riku and I were hard pressed as it was to hold them off once we closed the door."

"Which means that she likely fell back instead of fighting insurmountable odds." Naruto sighed in defeat.

"Yeah... I'm sorry Naruto. If I had known she was there I would have tried to help her." Mickey said glumly.

"Yeah. So you knew her?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. I met her and Ventus while I was still a student myself. Fought alongside both of them when we stopped Xehanort from starting a Keyblade War." Mickey nodded.

"Wow... Aqua never talked much about the events that led up to her being trapped in the World Of Darkness. She only told me that she was there because she had tried to save a dear friend." Naruto explained.

"I know. I wasn't there when she was lost, but I know a great deal of what had happened afterwards." Mickey nodded "And what happened before that as well."

"I'd love to hear about it if you have the time." Naruto said "She's... She's very important to me."

"I'm sure she is." Mickey nodded with a smile "When we get to Twilight Town I'll tell you as much as I can remember."

"That sounds great." Naruto grinned as they returned to DiZ and Namine who were finishing the preparations to head for Twilight Town.

"I see King Mickey has located you." DiZ nodded "Did you find anything of value?"

"Value enough." Naruto nodded in turn "Is this place going to be safe?"

"As safe as anywhere can truly be." DiZ replied "Why do you ask?"

"I'm not going to just be sitting idly by while Sora is out of commission. The Worlds need a Keyblade wielder to protect them now, especially with Organization XIII out there causing havoc. I'll need a base of operations though. Somewhere I can fall back to in between trips to other worlds and hunts for the Organization. If Twilight Town is secure enough I'll use it as a base."

"You intend to hunt the Organization?" Mickey asked in surprise.

"They have taken what doesn't belong to them. Powerful beings from my world are being used by them to augment their powers. If they can begin to even harness a fraction of their powers, we are going to be in very deep trouble." Naruto explained "And they are my friends. They are relying on me to find a way to save them. I won't let them down. Not after so many others have."

"Wow. This sounds like it could be bad." Mickey said.

"Very. The Biju are powerful, and in the wrong hands they could cause irreparable harm to the worlds." Naruto agreed.

"I see. If you intend to do this I will not stop you, however I will ask that you try to keep these battles far from Twilight Town. We cannot afford to be fighting a siege in my laboratory." DiZ warned.

"No promises." Naruto warned "But I'll be as careful as I can be."

With that Mickey and DiZ went off to check on Riku as Naruto and Namine moved the crystal pods through the Doorway of Darkness and into the chamber waiting for them in Twilight Town. As they finished setting Sora into place Naruto steeled himself as he prepared to go and make war against Organization XIII and to save his captured friends.

 _AN* Ok, for those of you that are curious I used a combination of all of Larxene's abilities throughout all of her game appearances, thus why she was able to make copies of herself like she could do when you fought her absent silhouette. And as for why the Keyblade Armor, Naruto isn't going to be travelling with Sora the entire time, he's going to go off and do his own thing from time to time and will need his own means of travelling the worlds, and I wanted him to have something different from what Sora and Riku both use. So, now that I have headed off some potential questions leave your thoughts below and let me know how I did._


	4. Chapter 4

_AN* Hello once again. I'm happy to see that that so many of you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope that this one will follow suit. Leave your reviews at the end and let me know how I did._

 **Three Keys**

It had taken far too long to get everything established in Twilight Town. It had already been a month and a half since Sora had fallen asleep, and while there had been no deterioration there had been no progress made either. Naruto had used the time to practice transforming his Keyblade into a glider and then going on quick runs to various worlds where he quickly exterminated various Heartless that he encountered, noting that the number of Heartless roaming the worlds hadn't decreased at all with the closing of Kingdom Hearts and this was troubling Naruto greatly. He had brought the matter up to Mickey and Riku, both showing just as much concern about this as he was.

"It shouldn't be happening to this degree." Mickey had noted "Heartless are naturally going to be going to the worlds that they can, but not in the numbers you're describing."

"What if the worlds are still connected?" Riku asked.

"Possible. The Lanes Between have always existed for Keyblade wielders to traverse the worlds." Naruto mused "It could be lasting damage from what Ansem did. Or it could be something far worse."

"Worse?" Riku blinked.

"A new Kingdom Hearts being made." Naruto nodded "It would certainly explain Organization XIII's interest in Sora and trying to turn him into a mindless puppet."

"All the same we need to be careful. Riku and I are going to be staying near Sora for awhile longer. What about you?" Mickey asked.

"The worlds can little afford to be without a Keyblade wielder. I'll keep scouting around and see if I can pick up the Organization's trail. With any luck I can find where they are based at and then bring the fight to them." Naruto stated.

"You think that's a good idea?" Riku asked "I mean you said that they would be really strong with the Biju powering them up."

"I'm running on the assumption that they don't know how to really use their powers." Naruto remarked "The Biju are not going to willingly give their powers to someone that they don't approve of, and if all of them just see them as charms or batteries then I should be able to overpower them and reclaim them. And who knows maybe some of them will listen to reason and return them."

"Always the optimist." Mickey smiled "That's good."

"Aqua didn't train a quiter." Naruto laughed.

* * *

It was now day 47 since Sora had fallen asleep and Naruto made his way to the world called Beast's Castle. He had stopped by there a few times and had made contact with the denizens. They were almost all cursed to be in the shape of inanimate objects, such as the candelabra who was friendly enough, or the bestial form that the master of the castle had taken. The only normal one was a young woman named Belle who was a charming young lady and pleasant conversation. He had aided them in exterminating a few Heartless and while he was not exactly welcome in the castle he was allowed to help them however he could.

Walking through the main hall he paused when he heard voices heading for the catacombs and with a frown Naruto tailed them, stopping when he saw two figures in black coats standing there, one of them with the hood pulled up and the other having golden hair that was spiky and swept more to the right side of his head, and piercing blue eyes. What shocked Naruto the most was two facts, one being that the hooded member had just summoned a Keyblade, and that both of them had charms hanging from their left wrists.

"It's taken some time but I've finally found you." Naruto said as he walked closer and the two jumped and turned to face him, with the teen now summoning a Keyblade as well.

"Who are you?" the boy shouted.

"A man searching for what's been stolen at the moment." Naruto stated "You both have something that doesn't belong to you. Return what was stolen and I will let you leave here alive."

"We haven't stolen anything!" the hooded one shouted, the voice odd to Naruto's ears, as though it was neither male or female.

"You may not be the thief responsible but you both carry the stolen on your wrists." Naruto countered as he stopped a few feet away from them "Return them now. Last warning."

The two traded looks as they looked down at the charms before glaring at him. They both struck at the same time, swinging their blades at Naruto who had Kurama in his hand before they could blink as he deflected the boy's swing while using his larger build to land a powerful kick to the hooded one's stomach and knock them back a few steps as he used Kurama's claws to pull the boy's Keyblade higher up and slam a fist into his stomach in turn, causing him to double over as Naruto prepared to take the charm.

"Leave him alone!" the hooded one shouted and Naruto sensed the power building up "Fira!" The mid level fire spell launched out, taking a blue color now as it headed directly for Naruto who leapt backwards and noted that it was Matabi that was hanging from their wrist.

"You are tampering with powers that you cannot possibly understand!" Naruto shouted as he pointed his blade towards the hooded member "Thundaga!" The lightning shot off in a powerful blast that forced the hooded member to leap out of the way as the boy rushed him with a series of strikes that reminded Naruto greatly of fighting Sora and with a smirk he decided to see just how good this Nobody was. Twisting to the side Naruto avoided a powerful slash as he swung Kurama up into the guard near the handle and yanked as hard as he could, disarming the Nobody who blinked in surprise as Naruto caught the weapon and spun the Kingdom Key on his fingers as he noted that the charm on his wrist was that of Gyuki.

"You fight like him." Naruto noted.

"Like who?" the Nobody asked confused, and with an angry scowl.

"Sora." Naruto replied "You fight almost exactly like him."

Before he could say more the second one struck again, swinging their own Kingdom Key in much the same way, though they would occasionally switch from their right hand to their left hand, adding a bit of variety but the pattern was there and Naruto capitalized on it as he knocked their weapon up with Kurama while the Kingdom Key slammed into their chest and sent them tumbling.

"Now I am intrigued by this." Naruto chuckled as he looked at the two Nobodies "Two Keyblade wielding Nobodies, Two Nobodies with fighting styles almost identical to Sora, and Two Nobodies that carry a piece of what was stolen. Who are you two?"

"What do you care?!" The boy snapped.

"You've piqued my curiosity." Naruto shrugged "Answer or don't, your call really."

"Xion." the second one said as the hood was now removed revealing a girl with blue eyes and black hair parted to the side. She looked familiar to Naruto but he couldn't place from where.

"Roxas." the boy replied.

"Well then Roxas and Xion since you were kind enough to tell me your names allow me to return the favor. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and this is Kurama." Naruto said holding up his keyblade as he tossed the Kingdom Key back to Roxas "Now then, I'm in a good mood and I really have nothing personal against either of you. Just give them back and we'll call it a day."

"Give who back?" Roxas asked completely confused and his anger seemed to be growing.

"We didn't take anything. The boss gave us these charms." Xion said.

"And where did he get them?" Naruto asked getting the two to blink "They were stolen from me when my world fell. They do not belong to you."

"Says you!" Roxas shouted as he struck, Xion right behind him but looking a bit more unsettled by this new information. Naruto blocked the strikes with relative ease as he moved from one Nobody to the next, keeping them off balance long enough for Kurama to start trying to rouse the two Biju.

" _Come on! Matabi! Gyuki! Wake up!"_

At first there was nothing but then Naruto heard a yawning sound and saw that Xion had tensed as well and glanced down at her wrist in shock.

" _Kurama? Why are you shouting?" Matabi asked._

"Who said that?!" Xion asked in shock as Naruto blinked in surprise.

"You can hear her?" Naruto asked as he backhanded Roxas away.

" _Matabi! We're here to rescue you!" Kurama exclaimed "A lot has happened and we can explain it all later!"_

" _Rescue? Why would I need... Wait, where am I? And who are you?" Matabi asked._

" _I'm Xion. Who are you?"_

" _Matabi. My name is Matabi kitten."_

" _Kitten?"_

"You can hear her." Naruto grinned.

"Xion?" Roxas called out as he looked at his colleague.

"Roxas, can you hear her too?" Xion asked.

"Hear who? I don't hear anything!" Roxas shouted.

"I doubt you would. But can you hear him?" Naruto asked as he looked at Roxas now.

"What is going on?!" Roxas roared as he tried to vent some of the anger on the man that had attacked him and Xion. Naruto parried each strike as he heard Kurama focusing his efforts on Gyuki and the Biju finally responded.

" _Kurama! I can barely hear you!" Gyuki exclaimed._

"How about now Roxas? Can you hear him?" Naruto asked as he held his blade at bay.

"No. What is going on? Are you crazy or something?!"

"Or something." Naruto answered with a grin as his fist slammed into the side of Roxas's head and sent him sprawling onto the ground "But this is intriguing."

"What's happening?" Xion asked, looking a mixture of mystified and terrified.

"That is the question isn't it." Naruto chuckled "You did something that no one else has done to my knowledge. And I am willing to let this go and see what happens next."

"What? You're going to let us go?" Xion asked.

"You. Not him." Naruto replied as he turned and faced Roxas fully "He can't hear his and he refuses to return him. So all that remains is to end him."

"No!" Xion shouted.

" _I hate to be a wet blanket but it appears that she can draw on my power." Matabi warned._

" _All of it?" Kurama asked._

" _I'm not letting her draw on all of it. I don't want her to hurt you. But I would like an explanation." the Biju hissed in annoyance._

Xion rushed forward her Kingdom Key becoming encased in blue flames as she struck with a slash that sent a blast of fire at Naruto who blinked in shock as he managed to leapt back and send a Blizzaga into it's path to lessen the flames. Frowning Naruto saw Xion was still coming, intent on protecting her friend and Naruto saw Roxas starting to stand up as well, the blow to the side of his face turning a nasty shade of purple before he muttered Cure and restored the damage.

"We can't beat him Xion." Roxas muttered "We need to get out of here."

"No. He knows something important. He knows about the charms. If we can work together" she trailed off.

"Xion, he's not going to listen." Roxas warned.

"I am listening, but you refuse to hear what I am saying." Naruto countered "Gyuki doesn't belong to you, and if you can't hear him then you have no right to keep him."

"Keep away from him. Or... Or I'll hurt you!" Xion warned.

"Xion, it doesn't have to go like this." Naruto said "I just want them back. You can hear Matabi and that means something important to me, but he can't hear Gyuki. He's playing with something that he doesn't understand."

"And you do?" Roxas snapped back.

"Yes. They are from my world. I know who they are and what they can do. I cannot and will not allow them to fall into the hands of those that would use them as little more than tools."

"Roxas, you're right. We need to run. NOW!" Xion shouted as she sent a blast of fire towards Naruto again who leapt through it, wincing in pain as he did as he landed and was about to rush them when he saw that Roxas was going to buy them a bit of time as he drew on a bit of the power of Gyuki to enhance this final gambit.

"Event Horizon!" he shouted as he shouted as the Kingdom Key turned into a sword of light as he shot towards Naruto at faster speeds then he had previously possessed but not nearly fast enough to get one over on Naruto who managed to block or dodge the slashes before seeing the real threat as Roxas stopped and sent a blast of light in the shape of pillars out in all directions and forced Naruto back and away from them as he saw Xion had opened a Corridor of Darkness. Roxas and Xion wasted no time in going through the door and Naruto was about to follow but knew that it would close before he could get to it. Sighing he let Kurama disappear as he contemplated what he had just learned.

" _Thoughts?"_

" _The form that they've taken is likely similar to that of a Jinchuruki's seal. They can draw on the power to a degree but if the Biju is aware they can draw on even more power. It's possible that Xion may even be able to use entirely new powers if Matabi is willing to work with her." Kurama mused._

" _But why could she hear Matabi when Roxas couldn't hear Gyuki?"_

" _I'm not sure. It's not because she's a Nobody. It could be that she is just more receptive of these sort of things."_

" _Food for thought." Naruto sighed._

* * *

Xion and Roxas were both shook up from the recent battle and when they met up with Axel the older Nobody could already tell that something had happened.

"So did it not work or something?" he asked as they sat on top of the clock-tower in Twilight Town.

"It did." Xion sighed "But there was trouble after we completed the mission."

"Trouble?" Axel frowned.

"Yeah. Some guy with a Keyblade attackd us. Said his name was Naruto." Roxas explained.

"Oh boy. You guys are lucky you got away." Axel said with a look of worry "He didn't follow you did he?"

"No. We managed to push him back before using the Corridor of Darkness." Xion said "But he was after the charms."

"Yeah. I've met him before." Axel nodded "I met him in Castle Oblivion. He was the one that killed Larxene."

"He did!" Roxas asked in shock.

"Yeah. They were pretty evenly matched at first but then he stopped pulling punches and just slaughtered her. It wasn't pretty." Axel sighed as he looked out at the setting sun "He's after these charms for some reason, called mine by some weird name."

"Same with ours." Xion nodded "But, I think they're alive."

"What?" Axel blinked as he looked at Xion "You sure?"

"Matabi talked to me." She said as she held up the charm "And after she did I could use more power then ever before."

"So that's what he meant." Axel hummed "He said something about not knowing who this was."

"So if we start talking to them we can get stronger?" Roxas asked.

"Maybe. Seems to work for you Xion." Axel chuckled.

"Maybe." Xion smiled as they ate their sea salt ice cream.

" _I'm willing to help you kitten, but not against Naruto."_

" _But why? He attacked us first!"_

" _Because he is a friend. And he could be your friend too if you would just talk to him. He cares about us Biju and the lengths that he has gone to for us means the world to me."_

" _Does that mean you want to leave?" Xion asked._

" _I don't know yet. I want to get to know you Kitten, learn about you and your life. For now you are way more interesting then being stuck with Kurama."_

" _You mean that Keyblade?"_

" _That's just the form he's taken now I guess. Maybe we can do something similar!"_

" _That's be great!" Xion laughed._

* * *

Naruto sighed as he walked back into the abandoned mansion, carrying several sea salt ice creams and handing them to Riku, Mickey and Namine in turn before stopping by DiZ and offering the man one.

"You got ice cream." DiZ noted.

"I made progress and wanted to celebrate the little victory." Naruto replied with a grin.

"You found them then?" DiZ asked.

"Two members. They were leaving Beast's Castle when I showed up. They both had Keyblades, and fought like Sora." Naruto nodded "They also each had one of the Biju. The girl, Xion, she was able to hear hers talk and that means that Matabi is fully awake now and might be able to help me get to the others."

"Or an enemy has become even more powerful." DiZ said with a scowl.

"I don't know. She didn't seem evil like Larxene was. I might be able to convince her to help us the next time I see her. It's worth a shot." Naruto countered.

"You are taking quite the risk." DiZ remarked "I don't like it."

"No one is asking you to like it. How I handle this is my business. I'm just keeping you in the loop since you are letting me crash here." Naruto countered with a scowl of his own. Silence settled between them as DiZ continued to work on restoring Sora while Naruto finished his ice cream before heading to the cot he had moved into a spare room to sleep for a bit before going back out to search again.

That morning Naruto stood outside of the mansion where he faced Riku in a practice spar with Mickey watching the bout. Riku fought very differently than Sora, using a one handed style that had a great deal of strength behind each swing while also relying on swift movements and acrobatics to dodge and maneuver around the opponent. Naruto had a grin on his face as he fought the young man and he could tell that Riku was enjoying the match as well.

"So you found Sora's Nobody. That's something at least." Riku noted as he deflected another blow while dodging the kick that was aimed at his lower legs.

"Yeah. It's the girl that I'm intrigued by though. She's someone's Nobody but the question is whose. The fact that she fought like Sora is very odd." Naruto admitted as he pressed the attack with several quick slashes that kept Riku moving backwards until the young man leapt over Naruto and landed in a roll a few feet away with a grin on his face as he prepared to continue the fight.

"Well we can look into it. I planned on heading out to see what I can find out about the Organization as well so this works out. We'll search together." Riku replied as he struck with a quick slash that Naruto caught on Kurama's edge.

"It does have it's merits." Naruto admitted as he twisted the edge around and landed an open palm strike into Riku's chest, knocking him back and disarming him. Riku blinked in shock at the counter before resummoning his Keyblade again and bringing it up in a hasty block to stop Naruto's next strike.

"Sounds like you two have a plan." Mickey noted as he moved in between the to stop them from continuing "And you can count me in too."

"You sure?" Naruto asked "I don't want to drag both of you into my business."

"It's what friends are for." Riku grinned "We help each other out however we can."

"That's right. We'll help you get your friends back." Mickey nodded.

"Thank you. Both of you." Naruto smiled "We can start tomorrow after making sure that the area is safe. If all of us leave I don't want to leave Sora defenseless."

"Agreed. DiZ and Namine aren't fighers." Riku nodded as he glanced over at the trees that would lead to the town proper "It wouldn't hurt to scout around and make sure that there aren't too many Heartless popping up."

"Yeah. It's odd that this seems to be one of the only worlds where they aren't showing up in such large numbers." Naruto hummed "Every other world has had dozens of them showing up all over the place, but here..."

"It is odd. But there are plenty of reasons why that is." Mickey noted "They might be showing up in other places that we haven't noticed, or they are drawn more heavily to other worlds."

Naruto nodded in thought as he considered the third unspoken option. They were showing up in Twilight Town and someone or something was killing them just as fast as they were appearing.

* * *

Xion sighed as she focused on her Keyblade, focusing on it as Matabi spoke to her.

" _That's it kitten. Feel my chakra entering you."_

" _Why do you keep calling me kitten?"_

" _Because that is what you are, a kitten. A child trying to take their first steps." Matabi chuckled "And it suits you."_

" _If you say so." Xion sighed with a grin "Your chakra, it feels warm."_

" _Because fire is my specialty. And it will likely have an effect on you as well. Now let's give it a go."_

" _Right."_

Xion felt the heat course through her and then down her arm into the Keyblade that shimmered like a mirage before changing from the Kingdom Key into an entirely new form. It was just a bit longer then the Kingdom Key and the shaft was wider and thinner, colored a sapphire blue with black swirls along the entirety of it and looked like a lunging cat with the teeth of the key shaped like the cat's own teeth. The body ended at the guard where two tails wrapped around the black grip before coming to a point at the keychain with the charm itself being that of Matabi, looking identical to the charm that hung from Xion's wrist, except it was colored blue and black instead of the gold that Xion had always seen.

"It worked!" she cheered.

" _Ha! Now Kurama won't be able to brag about being the only one able to do this!" Matabi laughed "I can't wait to hear how he reacts to this!"_

" _He can talk?" Xion asked._

" _All of us can. He was the only one that stayed with Naruto for some reason."_

" _Stayed with him?"_

" _We were sealed inside of him, or at least in part. It's a long story kitten."_

" _Well I'm too excited to sleep so you can tell me tonight if you want."_

" _Where to even begin." Matabi sighed as she made a purring noise before speaking "Well I guess the day of our birth is as good as any."_


End file.
